U.S. Public University Governing Boards Census, 2023 Data

This dataset, the methods for collection and compilation are all described in this working paper: https://edworkingpapers.com/ai25-1212. This will be updated with a permanent doi link once the paper is published. 

These data include all public 4-year university governing boards. They do not include boards that are public but exclusively 2-year, public advisory or coordinating boards, or private college or university boards. They are current to August 2023. 

All data are in the 2023_pugb excel file. The "boards" sheet contains board-level data, the "census" sheet is at the individual board member level, but can easily be filtered/analyzed at the board level by using the "id" variable. 

Please refer to the dictionary for data descriptions, types, etc. 

Please cite these data: McMullen (2026), Public University Governing Boards Census (2023 release).

If you see or suspect any errors, please reach out to isabelmcmullen1@gmail.com and/or imcmullen@wisc.edu. 